Text messaging allows practices to target and contact hundreds of patients within minutes. Patients can respond by text with replies automatically forwarded to a specified email address. Many practices are signing up to using a text messaging service to inform patients of appointments, flu vaccinations etc.

Needlestick injuries can be classified as any piercing wound caused by a hypodermic needle, or by other sharp instruments or objects such as scalpels, mounted needles, broken glassware, etc. This factsheet sets out the main concerns for healthcare professionals and what to do when needlestick injuries happen.

Miss C, a 30-year-old accountant, developed an asymptomatic left-sided neck lump. A CT scan revealed a 23 x 17 x 27mm mass at the carotid bifurcation consistent with a carotid body tumour.

Forty-four-year-old Ms M presented to her GP with pain and swelling of her right knee. She had experienced similar symptoms three years earlier whilst pregnant but had not undergone any investigations at the time

Mr H, a 45-year-old solicitor and father of three, visited his GP Dr P with a persistent headache. He described two months of symptoms, occurring up to six times per week, mainly in the mornings and with associated nausea.

Miss A, a 40-year-old IT consultant, was talking to a colleague at work when she developed a headache, along with blurred vision and nausea.

A clinical negligence claim is a demand for financial compensation for alleged harm caused by substandard clinical care. Common reasons for claims include failure or delay in diagnosis, or incorrect treatment. In fact, many claims arise out of poor communication.

Certain circumstances can mean you are obliged to disclose information about a patient, even if you do not have their consent; under other circumstances, disclosure may be justifiable. This factsheet gives you further information about these circumstances.

Good medical records – whether electronic or handwritten – are essential for the continuity of care of your patients. Adequate medical records enable you or somebody else to reconstruct the essential parts of each patient contact without reference to memory. They should therefore be comprehensive enough to allow a colleague to carry on where you left off.

Needlestick injuries can be classified as any piercing wound caused by a hypodermic needle, or by other sharp instruments or objects such as scalpels, mounted needles, broken glassware, etc. This factsheet sets out the main concerns for healthcare professionals and what to do when needlestick injuries happen.